Compared to an adult human, an infant's parietal and occipital bones are disproportionate to the rest of the skull, resulting in an enlarged back of the head. When laid flat or positioned in a seat, the back of the infant's head contacts a surface in advance of its shoulders. The infant's head is pushed forward and downward, allowing the infant's pencil-sized airway to be easily compromised, putting the infant at risk for suffocation, apnea, oxygen desaturation episodes, bradycardia, and other dangerous conditions resulting from restricted breathing.
Parents use car seats to protect their infants in the event of a car accident. The angle of a car seat is specifically designed for crash safety to minimize the impact on the infant. The angle needed to maintain the safety of a regular-sized infant in a car accident places preterm and term infants at risk for airway compromise. Further, infants tend to slouch in car seats due to excessive room between the infant's crotch and center car seat strap, potentially causing airway compromise. Excess room on the sides of the infant allows shifting of the head, body, or both, sideways in the seat, which also may restrict the airway.
If the parents recognize the danger to the infant, they may attempt to pad the excess room using blankets, towels, or other space-fillers in order to keep the infant in place in the seat. This makeshift solution is potentially dangerous: the parents cannot be sure they are creating a safe environment for the infant and may be compromising the safety features of the car seat. Several patented solutions address the empty space in the seat, but do not resolve the airway restriction caused by the infant's enlarged head. A device that fills the dangerous empty space, supports the infant's head in a natural position, adjusts to the size of the infant, and does not affect the safety features of the infant seat is needed.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an infant seat insert that can be used in standard infant seats to prevent an infant's airway from becoming compromised. It is a further object that the insert be adjustable to accommodate any size infant. It is a further object that the insert not affect the safety features of the infant seat.